Week 1 – Jan 15-21.
Begin design for purring CuddleBit.
First pass at a “purring motor” consisted of a DC motor with a small, attached weight, wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap and plastic to ensure that the weight will not come in contact with anything as the motor spins.
![](https://blogs.ubc.ca/cuddlebits18/files/2018/01/IMG_0875-300x225.jpg)
First pass at purring motor.
Testing out the “fluid body” idea – that the sensation of a purring creature can be successfully conveyed by attaching the purring motor to a water base (here a Ziploc filled with water). The idea is that this kind of body can simulate the weight of a small creature, and is simultaneously a good medium for transmitting the purring vibrations. So far it seems to be going quite well.
IMG_0878|
Purring motor in action.
![](https://blogs.ubc.ca/cuddlebits18/files/2018/01/IMG_0870-300x225.jpg)
Testing purring motor setup with temporary robot body.
Borrowed a previous robot body to test if vibrations can transmit through a semi-rigid skeleton. Also seems to work quite well.